Scale wire wheels are something that had been lacking in the slot car world for many years. I though i'd try and do something about it. The wheels shown on the HRG and Mistral are not my work in all honesty and are no longer available I believe. The others shown on the Zagato, DB4 and GT are.

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. The metallic partical of all off the shelf paints will always be much too coarse for the reasons D Type mentioned. When I order paint I always ask for the finest they have available. It does give a fairly good representation but can alter the colour somewhat. Below is another shot of the Moss No. 2 car with a little more detail added.

Apart from the ventilation(?) openings under the doors there does not seem much different from the above and this Shelby DBR1, alledgedly Moss's 1959 DBR1 (DBR1/3 according to Chris Nixon's Sportscar Heaven)

but when I look at the photograph of that car in said book it looks nothing like the Shelby model. The front wheel arches are lower and the rear arches have spats down to the level of the wheel hubs. The aft end of the wrap-round windscreen looks diferent too.

I am not an expert, Malcolm, are you confusing 1958 and 1959? Rear spats were used at Le Mans in 1959 but not in 1958.In 1959 the "FIA suitcase" was introduced and the rear bodywork was raised to accommodate it. As a result instead of the canvas (or was it inflatable?) tonneau cover of 1958 the 1959 cars had clear plastic covers stretching from the top of the screen to the rear bodywork.

Graham, to nitpick, on the Moss car, no 2, in 1958 the upper part of the [driver's] left hand vertical bar in the radiator aperture was missing - see the photo on p. 251 of All my races. Did it perhaps fall off during the race? The exhaust pipes passed out through the openings below the doors. On the Moss car, holes nos 2 & 3 were siamesed so only hole 1 was unoccupied. The photo on P. 242 of the Edwards biography shows this clearly.

I am not an expert, Malcolm, are you confusing 1958 and 1959? Rear spats were used at Le Mans in 1959 but not in 1958.In 1959 the "FIA suitcase" was introduced and the rear bodywork was raised to accommodate it. As a result instead of the canvas (or was it inflatable?) tonneau cover of 1958 the 1959 cars had clear plastic covers stretching from the top of the screen to the rear bodywork...

Duncan, thank you.

It is well known that I am easily confused - but Shelby Collectibles, who produced the original model (in 2009, I think, to celebrate the eponymous Carroll's win in 1959)? It would appear so.

Here is a link to ModelZone's site http://www.modelzone...-no-4-1959.html and this car (albeit the Moss version). The Shelby car is indentical save for the number (his is #5). It would appear that they have modelled a 1958 car! If this is so, and it certainly looks that way, it is amazing that no one has in the past three years that the model has been around pointed out the error.

So - back to my own model. For the sake of even basic accuracy, never mind rivet-counting, perhaps the thing to do is change the number to #2 and put a red band round the intake - or just change it to #1 and have the Nurburgring '58 car.

Interestingly, Oxford Diecasts have also made the same mistake

with their 1:64 Moss Le Mans DBR1 but the 1:43rd scale modellers appear to be nearer the mark.

This is the Quartzo (or is it IXO? I am easily confused!) 1959 Shelby Aston:

You are quite correct in your observations D Type. Part of one of the vertical bars was indeed missing and possibly due to Astons build quality. One other "feature" I missed is the dent. I really should pay more attention.